Cotton-wadding apparatus.



E. H. ROONEY.

COTTON WADDING APPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-I1, I912.

1,1 89,873. r Patented July 4, 1916.

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I B W M ATTORNEYS E. H. ROONEY.

COTTON WADDINGAPPARATUS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-11.1912.

l 1 89,873. Patented July 4, 1916;

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELWIN H. RODNEY, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOB T0 WHITINMACHINE WORKS, OF WHITINSVILLE, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OFMASSACHUSETTS.

COTTON-WAIDDING APPARATUS.

of the fleece delivered by each, so as there-' by to reduce the width ofthe lapped fleeces on the conveyer, and thus control the width of thewadding produced therefrom. To make wadding of less width than the widthof the card cylinders supplying the individual fleeces, as, forinstance, by running shorter bat-rolls through each card, is impracticable and objectionable for various reasons, particularly onaccount of the rough and irregular selvage that is thereby formed, andit is the common practice to use a different series of cards for eachwidth of waddmg, the cylinders of such cards having the width of theparticular wadding to be made. The present invention enables the sameseries of cards to produce fleece of such different widths as may bedesired, each fleece being formed with improved selvage edges andadapted to be superposed or lapped on the conveyer in the usual way toform wadding of various widths. This result is brought about by theapplication of interchangeable conductors of special form to each card,upon which conductors the fleece passes from the doffer knife to theconveyer and by so passing undergoes the desired change in width.

In the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, Figure 1 is adiagrammatic view of cotton wadding apparatus; Figs. 2 and 3 are,respectively, perspective views of interchangeable fleece conductorsadapted to produce different widths of wadding; Fig. 4 is a frontelevation of one of such conductors in place on the card; Fig. 5 is aside elevation of the front of the card, so equipped; Fig. 6 a detail insection of the structure of the conductors.

The apparatus shown diagrammatically in Fig. 1 comprises a series ofcards 1, of which two only are shown for illustration, arranged in lineand preferably directly Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.

Application filed September 11, 1912. Serial No. 719,710.

over a traveling lattice 2, or any other form of endless belt conveyer,which is thus common to all the cards in the series, so that theindividual fleeces produced by the several cards will be evenly laid insuperposit1on thereon in the usual way. The cards themselves may beconstructed according to any suitable design, in the present case bemgshown as ordinary revolving top-flat cards mounted on elevated platforms3, so as to allow the conveyer to pass freely beneath them, and providedwith the usual dofferknife 4, engaging the dofler cylinder 5, to stripthe fleece therefrom. Directly beneath the dofi'er knife each card isprovided with a fleece conductor such as generally indicated'by 6 inFig. 1. This con ductor, as shown more clearly in Figs-2 and 3, isformed of a skeleton frame 7, supporting a convex bottom or floor 8, towhich there are secured a multiplicity of perpendicular ribs 9,preferably convergently arranged thereon. The ribs are all of about thesame height and their upper edges constitute a rib-formedfleece-receiving and conducting surface, having a general convex contourleading downwardly and forwardly from the vdoffer. The two outside ribs11 may be somewhat higher than the intermediate ribs and are slightlyflared at their upper ends, as indicated.

It will be understood that the frame, ribs and floor portion are allsecured together in a permanent and rigid manner so that the fleececonductoras a whole can be readily moved about andattached to anddetached from the card. For this purpose the framework 7 is providedwith attachment means in the form of bolt-holes 12 and depending ears 13adapted for engagement by corresponding holding members, such aS 12(Fig. 4) mounted in the card frame and adapted to secure the conductorin its position when placed. on the card, as shown in Figs. 4: and 5.When thus placed, the top of the rib-formed surface will be immediatelybelow and slightly in front of the dofl'er knife 4, and will extendthence forwardly with an increasing downward pitch toward the lower oroutlet end of the condue-tor, where it is disposed in the appropriateposition to deliver into the bite of a pair of calender rolls 14: and15. These rolls in the present case are journaled in standards 16,separate from the card frame and. inde' pendently secured to theplatform 3. The lowermost roll is driven from the card through a trainof gears 17, 18, 19 and 20 from the dolfer cylinder gear 21, such trainbeing carried on an auxiliary frame plate 22, secured to the side of theloom frame as well as to the top of the standard 16. The gear train isinclosed in a. casing 23. The upper roll 14 rests by its gravity againstthe lower roll and is confined in position by the inclined slot formedin the standards 16. Directly below the calender rolls there is anopening 24 in the platform 3, which opening is immediately above thetraveling conveyer 2, all as will be plain from a consideration of thedrawings.

For each card there is supplied a set of removable fleece conductorsconstructed substantially as above described but differing fromeachother in the degree of convergence of the ribsforming the conductingsurface.

IVith a set of cards having say flfl inch card cylinders there would bea'sufliclent number of conductors properly convergent to reduce thefleece to the standard'wadding sizes of 40, 36 and 32 inchesrespectively. In the operation of the apparatus when equipped witlr anyof these sizes of conductors, the fleece delivered by the dofter knifefall's onto the rib-formed surface and. is at first slightly pushedalong upon the latter by the action of the knife; as it approaches theoutlet of the conductor. however, and by reason of the convexity of thelatter above referred to, its advance is assisted by gravity while itrests the meantime upon the converging ribs, being by such engagementand movement contracted in widtlnthe contrac tion taking place graduallyand uniformly over the whole surface of the fleece, so that on reachingthe outlet end'of the conductor it is of the same width as the latterwith a well defined selvage edge. The calender rolls may rotate at asurface speed accommodated to the movement of the fleece to deliver thesame through-the opening 24 onto the common conveyer 2, where it isassociated with the other fleeces that are to form the wadding, as willbe understood.

In the detailed view of Fig. 6 is indicated amodifiedform of fleececonductor in which the ribs 9 are formed of bent sheet-metal stripssoldered or otherwise secured to the bottom floor 25, the side margins26 of which are turned upwardly to form the side walls of the conductor.

It will be evident that instead of removing one conductor andsubstituting another of different degree of convergence, the ribsthemselves can be adjustably secured to the floor'portion 8, so as to bemoved and set thereon at such convergence as may be required.

I claim:

1. Means for changing the width of a and fleece comprisinga fleececonductor having a'convex bottom wall and aplurality of closely spacedconverging ribs also con- VQX as to their edq'es secured on such walland forminga fleece conducting surface, and n'reans fordetachablysecuring said conduetor to the card frame to receive the fleece from thedofler.

2; Inapp'ara'tus of the kind describedfthe combination of a' travelingconveyor, a series of elevated cards successively arranged above thesame and comprising/each a fleece conductor mounted to receive thefleece direct from the dolf'er knife of the card, such conductor-being:formed of converging ribs sharply inclineddownward at the delivery end;whcreon the fleece moves downwardly bvthea-idof gravity, andqa pair ofdriven rolls at-the end of such ribs adapted to lay the fleece upon theconveyer'.

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof two wit nesses.

ELIVIN H. ROONEY.

\Vitnesses:

OSCAR L. Owen, CHESTER G. LAMB.

Copies of this patent may bc'obtained for five cents each, byaddressing-the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G.

